Daniel T. Spitler

1939 - 2023

News story
By Mark Zaborney
Blade Staff Writer

BOWLING GREEN - Daniel T. Spitler, a lawyer and longtime partner in the law firm his father founded, who became the first Democrat in decades elected Wood County prosecutor, died June 11 in hospice care at Brookdale Bowling Green. He was 83.

He had congestive heart failure, said his son Steve Spitler, also a lawyer.

"He was my law partner," said the younger Mr. Spitler, an Ohio Northern University law graduate, as had been his father and his grandfather, Emmett V. "Tim" Spitler, the firm's founder.

Mr. Spitler was a former managing partner of the firm, Spitler Huffman. He retired in 2019.

"He was great to have as a mentor," his son said. He readily conveyed wisdom gained through experience, such as "there are about three sides to every story. Treat people with respect, and have respect for tradition and the dignity of the court."

"He'd drop anything if you had a question, just to help you out. He took the time to explain it to you both in laymen's terms and in terms the court would use."

Mr. Spitler was founding general counsel of the Northwestern Water and Sewer District, in operation since 1993. His guidance helped the regional entity steer through its early stages "to become the district that it is today," said Rex Huffman, his law partner, current general counsel of the district, which serves about 20,000 customers, mostly in Wood County.

"He was a brilliant legal mind," said Mr. Huffman, who knew him for more than 40 years. "He could assess the value of a case quickly. There was nobody better than that.

"He was very social and was all about building and fostering relationships. Through those relationships he was able to resolve a lot of issues for clients and others."

Mr. Spitler became a lawyer "because he really wanted to find a way to help people," said his brother Bob Spitler, a lawyer and a Spitler Huffman partner. "That was his joy in life. He felt the law, by virtue of being around my father, was the primary way he could accomplish that."

He'd already served as Bowling Green city prosecutor when he was encouraged to run for county prosecutor - then a part-time position - by Al Newlove, who had a real estate business and helped found the modern-day Wood County Democratic Party.

Mr. Spitler was elected in November, 1968, by 85 votes and, four years later, re-elected by 60 votes. He would joke that for a Democrat in Wood County, those were landslides, his brother said. The previous Democratic prosecutor, William Dunipace, served a single term, starting Jan. 1, 1909.

He worked hard at his campaigns, said Mr. Newlove's son, Richard, a broker for Newlove Realty and a longtime officer in the county Democratic Party.

"Dan had the benefit of a very well respected father, and the Spitlers had an excellent reputation," Mr. Newlove said, adding that his Republican opponents, M. Shad Hanna the first time and John Cheetwood the second, also came from well known and respected legal families.

"Dan had the ability to identify with people, whoever he was with," Mr. Newlove said. "He had empathy with people. He knew how to deal with people in a respectful manner, but he was not someone you would push around either."

His approach as prosecutor, his brother said, was to find the truth, "and never overcharge and never undercharge. He believed that he needed to balance the penalty and the justice with the ultimate goal of rehabilitation. He took the most pride in being able to fairly dispense justice from the prosecutor's office."

He urged restraint by law enforcement in May, 1970, as Bowling Green State University students planned a march from campus to the county courthouse to protest the shootings by Ohio National Guard members at Kent State University that killed four and wounded nine others.

In Bowling Green, "there was no confrontation. Everyone had their peaceful march," his brother said.

He also was a close friend of former Ohio Attorney General William Brown, and the brothers were appointed "special counsel" to represent Mr. Brown in matters across the state.

He was calm and witty, a rejoinder always at the ready, his brother said.

Mr. Huffman said: "There was no one more fun than Dan Spitler. People gravitated to him."

He was born Sept. 20, 1939, in Perrysburg to Grace and Emmett Spitler, their first child, and was a 1957 graduate of Bowling Green High School. He attended the University of Arizona and Ohio State University, from which he received a bachelor's degree. He received his law degree from Ohio Northern and was admitted to the Ohio Bar in October, 1965.

"He loved the practice of law, to reach out to both sides to try to reach a proper resolution," his brother said. "He liked litigation, when he had a case that really needed to be won. He was a wonderful trial lawyer because he emoted honesty and deliberation."

He looked forward to discussions of current events with his uncle, the late George Jenks, a former national affairs editor of The Blade and chief of its Washington bureau.

He enjoyed travel - he and his wife, Linda, traveled to Puerto Vallarta for more than 30 winters - and family time with grandchildren and great-grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

"He liked being at family events. Kids were never too loud for him," his son said.

He had been a member of Bowling Green Country Club and Stone Ridge Golf Club in Bowling Green and Toledo Country Club.

He and the former Linda Burger married April 19, 1964. She died June 3, 2021.

Surviving are his daughter, Dr. Betsy Foxen; sons Steven Spitler and Tim Spitler; brothers Jim Spitler, John Spitler, and Bob Spitler, and six grandchildren.

A funeral Mass will begin at 10 a.m. July 12 at St. Aloysius Church, Bowling Green. Arrangements are by Dunn Funeral Home in Bowling Green.

The family suggests tributes to the American Heart Association or Advocates for Basic Legal Equality in Toledo, of which he was a former board member.